


some place that he'd rather be

by ShyAudacity



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Boys Kissing, Drabble, Episode: s02e01 Chapter Fourteen: A Kiss Before Dying, Hospitals, Hurt Archie Andrews, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mentioned Fred Andrews, Mentioned Josie McCoy, Reggie Mantle is A Good Guy, Season/Series 02, Short & Sweet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-13
Updated: 2018-08-13
Packaged: 2019-06-26 18:21:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 364
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15668694
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShyAudacity/pseuds/ShyAudacity
Summary: Seemingly out of nowhere, Reggie says: “I thought it was you.”Archie’s eyes snap open, but he does not move.ORA little moment between these two after Fred is shot.





	some place that he'd rather be

**Author's Note:**

> Word docs was really fighting on the format for this lemme tell ya. 
> 
> Unbeta'd and title from Piano Man by Billy Joel.

Archie and Reggie are sitting next to each other in Fred’s hospital room, still waiting for him to wake up. Archie has his face on Reggie’s shoulder, his face still stiff from crying. Today has been all kinds of awful, he just wants it to be over already, wants his Dad to wake up so they can just go home and act like this didn’t happen.

Seemingly out of nowhere, Reggie says: “I thought it was you.”

Archie’s eyes snap open, but he does not move.

He remembers the look on Reggie’s face when he’d come into the hospital; he looked as relieved as Archie felt. The hug they shared had been brief, but still good; neither one of them wanted to make a scene with so many people around. Reggie had pulled him aside into a forgotten hallway later to give Archie a better one, to let him shake and cry and let go of some of the stress he’d been holding in.

Reggie lets his lips brush Archie’s forehead, whispering: “Josie called me asking if I’d heard the news, but the call kept cutting out, so I thought it was you that was hurt.”

Archie feels his breath catch in his throat. He can practically see it, the blood pouring out of his stomach, the ceiling tiles in Pop’s, his dad’s face crying, begging him not to leave-.

Archie whines audibly, presses his face more firmly into Reggie’s shoulder.

Reggie shifts, realizing Archie’s discomfort.

“Shit, baby, I’m sorry, I didn’t-.”

Archie shakes his head, presses his mouth firmly against Reggie’s; he needs this, he needs to feel something other than afraid right now or he might actually burst into pieces.

Archie lets the kiss go on for a short while, then rests his forehead against Reggie’s after pulling away. Reggie looks at him fondly, wiping away the tears that had begun to fall again. Archie gives himself a minute before returning his head to Reggie’s shoulder, curling their hands together.  

He starts to drift off, finally, the comforting feeling of Reggie’s fingers ghosting through his hair and light kisses being left on his forehead bringing him back to a place of peace.

**Author's Note:**

> This might just be the shortest thing that I've ever written/posted. Weird. 
> 
> Thanks for reading. Comments/Kudos/Prompts are not only appreciated but encouraged. You can find me on tumblr as archieandrewsprotectionsquad. Thanks again for reading, have a great day!


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